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Topic: When it is appropriate to discuss pay? (Read 4566 times)

Hi everyone, I had a question about when is it appropriate to ask a future/new employer about pay. I'm curious because over the summer I was looking for a short term work in childcare and I was surprised how none of the jobs I looked at listed the salary.One of the jobs was a bit far away from where I lived and I knew I would only accept the job if a certain pay was offered, however when I asked the woman what the salary range was, she said "The pay is entry level and depends on experience". So I went on line and tried to find an entry level pay rate for childcare and there was no clear answer. Some sites listed minimum wage while others were as high as $15/hr. Since the woman didn't want to tell me directly, I decided not to interview with her.I'm now in the UK and in the process of getting a new part-time job. It's a similar situation where they have not specifically said what they will be paying me. It's a student job at my university and they gave a salary range of £7-£8/hr.We have training in two weeks where we will receive more information but everything else leading up to the training is vague. My situation is: I don't really want the job if I'm getting paid less than £8 because I'd rather just look for a different higher paying job. How and when do I politely bring this up? Is it rude to email them and ask them what my pay will be, or tell them I want the higher pay? It feels rude to say, but on the other hand I feel like I'm wasting both of our time if I go to the training and I am then informed that I will only make the minimum.Does anyone have advice?

I would say, discuss the potential salary at a second interview or when asked, but I wouldn't ask about it until at least a live, in person interview. If following a phone interview, a potential employer asked me to come in for a live interview and there had been no mention of salary, I 'd probably say that while I don't want to suggest we negotiate salary at this time, my current salary is in the range of X, and it they think the position would be able to offer more than that I am very interested in moving forward with the live interview. It seems like a total waste of time for everyone if they are thinking of one number and the candidate is thinking about something totally different. It's harder if you are not working to have that conversation.

In the case of a narrow range, 7 vs. 8 pounds, I'd interview and then try to negotiate up, since for a part time job, the difference between the two is not going to be that great in the end.

You ask about the pay at the time the position is offered to you. If you find it is not enough then you begin negotiating at that time or you simply decline.

POD to this. I never discuss wages (other than directing people to the National Award the position is classified within which gives a range however we pay above that for some jobs) unless i'm offering the person a job. It is then a negotiation.

But if she does need 8 pounds then I don't think it would harm you at all to say "Before I take a training slot, I want to make sure what the salary would be per hour and if variable, what does it depend on."